INTERVIEW- The Chainsmokers

3/08/2016
Tunes For Loons
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Starting this interview off by throwing out an overwhelming TY to The Chainsmokers. They are in the middle of a humungous nation-wide tour and yet they pulled themselves away long enough to answer a couple questions from us, the Helena Bonham Carter and Bernadette Peters* of the indie music blogosphere. Whereas I can't even pull myself away from binge-watching Damages long enough to text my mom back (sry mom, I am alive, but Glenn Close is the only post-menopausal leading lady I can have in my life at the moment.) We caught up with Alex and Drew about their latest EP, Bouquet, how they handle being on the road, and the dedication of their fans, which sounds like it could be giving "Locks of Love" a run for their $$$:

*our unfortunately spot-on celebrity dopplegangers

T4L: Tell us about Bouquet. How long a period was it written over? What is your favorite track off of it and, in addition, what is your favorite track to play live so far?The Chainsmokers: Well Bouquet as an EP wasn’t really conceived until about 5 weeks before it came out. We just felt like it would be a cool idea to bundle our 5 releases together with our final release of 2015, New York City. It might bring more attention back to our other tracks and help Roses. That EP though was conceived between January of 2015 until about September of 2015, and, c'mon, our favorite is a no brainer: Roses!

T4L: Can you write/create music on the road or is it too demanding? The Chainsmokers: We are lucky in the fact we can do that and it doesn’t bother us. We can conceive ideas and really close out tracks for the most part, before needing to get in a studio and work on the mix. It allows us to keep our busy touring schedule but we also think we pull a lot of our inspiration from the road.

T4L: How is creating a remix different from writing an original song? What is your creative process like in general?The Chainsmokers: Well a remix isn’t always an original idea, we are building on a song that already has some feeling. It's also not ours, so while we certainly work super hard on them, we don’t hold onto them too tightly. And that’s also what makes them so fun to do. Our original songs, especially now, are written, produced, and in some cases, even sung [by us]. Creativity for us, though, is fleeting. It comes and goes, and you never know when. We have learned you cannot force it, so we have just tried to figure out ways to capitalize on it when it does come.

T4L: What has been your favorite collaboration so far? And what is your dream collaboration?The Chainsmokers: They have all been great. Roses was probably the most exciting looking back on it just because of how we all came up with the track and how natural it was. But she is amazing, and honestly so are Waterbed, Tritonal, Tiesto and Great Good Fine Ok!

T4L: What were you listening to when you recorded Bouquet? What are you listening to right now? The Chainsmokers: Haha shit we have no idea, our musical tastes change every 2 weeks. If we had to guess probably Grouplove, Taylor Swift just had dropped, and maybe some Drake. At the moment we are on a major Bon Iver kick!

T4L: Musical influences and inspirations?The Chainsmokers: Well we sorta touched on it above but our tastes change quite frequently! Growing up at different points we passionately went through all the genres from metal to rap and we feel like we have a very eclectic taste as a result, which has benefitted us a lot, we think, in our productions. That said, some of our biggest influences are Daft Punk, Dave Matthews Band, Death Cab for Cutie, Cut Copy, David Guetta, and so on.

T4L: What's next for you guys? What does the rest of 2016 look like for The Chainsmokers?The Chainsmokers: We have no idea. More music is probably the smartest move. We have some cool side projects we are developing with our videographer, Sam Kolder, and our team that could be really interesting. But it's too early to get into that. As for 2016, it's busy, lots of amazing festivals, more releases…

T4L: Weirdest fan/show experience? The Chainsmokers: A fan once shaved her head in the front row and then threw her hair at us.

(T4L sidenote: That is fucking EPIC. Homegirl who did this, you are batshit, ergo you are kinda my idol. Insert infinite praise-hand and girl-getting-her-hair-cut emojis here.)

T4L: If you were trapped on a desert island with another musical artist, who would it be? (you do not have to like their music, this is based off personality)The Chainsmokers: Dave Matthews or Rachel Platten.

T4L: How much do you value social media as an artist? Do you like how big of a role it now plays in the industry or do you find it more of a hindrance to deal with?The Chainsmokers: To each their own. There are definitely times when we feel burnt out on social media or frustrated by it, but at the end of the day it's our choice to use it a little or a lot. There are many successful artists who barely use it and then there are those who use it as a huge tool. Most importantly we feel like it's great because it allows our fans to really get to know us, and develop a more real and intimate relationship. That’s why we enjoy it and while we are still getting better, we think it has benefitted us greatly!

If you haven't already, check out The Chainsmokers' EP, Bouquet, here! & buy a ticket to their show if you live in one of the lucky few places these boys haven't yet visited!